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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Weekly Menu 8/4+

In
honor of the Olympics I thought we could do a little theme eating, or at least
stretch ourselves for one day of such craziness. As I am typing this up Tuesday evening I
consulted the medal count to see what countries I should look to for
inspiration.

While
congratulations are in order to Kazakhstan on their 3 gold medals, I am not
interested in eating their most common foods; horse meat and mutton. Yep.

I
also looked to the Finns because I happened to see them during the opening
ceremonies, but opted against Hernekeitto– peasoup, usually served on Thursday along
with a dessert pancake, because it is just so darned hot and I am not in
the mood for soup right now. I love that
it is served on Thursday by tradition, and while I do love Thursday, it’s not
happening here; perhaps when the winter Olympics roll around.

Saturday

lasagna
garlic bread
salad

Sunday

fajitas
beans & riceez ice cream

Monday

sticky asian
chicken
rice
bananas & orange juice

Tuesday

beef stroganoff
noodles
zucchini

Wednesday

skillet paella
cantaloupe & blueberries

Thursday

sausage
home fried potatoes
green beans

Friday

fish & chips
spinach salad
apple pie

Saturday

If
you made this back at the end of June and doubled your recipe, now is a great time
to show your Italian spirit and a nod to my paternal grandfather.

This
is for double the recipe. It’s really
good so I always double it, plus doubling the recipe doesn’t add any
significant amount to the prep time.

Lasagna (from Better
Homes & Gardens)

2lb ground meat (beef/pork/italian sausage)

1 c chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

2-16oz whole tomatoes crushed or 28oz can
crushed + 14 oz can diced

2-8oz tomato sauce

2-6oz tomato paste

4t basil

1t salt

no boil lasagna noodles

4 eggs

5c cottage cheese (24oz + 16 oz container)

1 ½ c parmesan cheese

4T parsley

2lb sliced provolone

Cook
meat, onion and garlic till meat is browned (or use frozen meat); drain. Stir in the tomatoes, basil and salt. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Meanwhile, beat eggs; add cottage cheese,
parmesan cheese and parsley. In a 9x13
pan put ~1/2 c sauce down on bottom of pan since we are using no boil
noodles. They need a little moisture to
get them started. Then layer, noodles,
cottage cheese mixture, provolone slices, red sauce. Repeat.
End with red sauce on top; add a little extra parmesan on top if you’d
like. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

If
you double the recipe, for your freezer pan use glass or corningware if you
have it. The acid in the tomato sauce
will slowly eat through the pan and you can be left with a metallic taste also,
be sure to top with plastic wrap first and then foil for the same reason.

You
can assemble the night before and bake the next day, just increase baking time
to 55 minutes. If you have teenage boys
in your house, you might want to put a note on there that it is not baked;
trust me I speak from experience. J

Garlic Bread

Spread
softened butter and sprinkle with garlic powder. Top with any leftover provolone cheese, or a
sprinkle of parmesan and finally a little parsley on top. Put in oven as you take out the lasagna and
bake for 5-10 minutes. Time will depend
on the thickness of your bread so just keep an eye on it.

Sunday

I’m
not sure how authentic fajitas are to Mexico, but that’s what I’m aiming for
here. The last time I was in the central
part of the country they hadn’t heard of flour tortillas. That works out because equal distance north
of the Texas border they haven’t heard of them either; sorry St, let me know
when I need to ship more.

Save enough fajita meat already cooked and cut up in the freezer for next week's quesadillas.

Fajitas

Beans

Rice

EZ ice cream (Woman's Day)

2 c heavy cream

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 lb fruit (optional)

Puree the fruit, set aside. Using an electric mixer beat the cream, milk and vanilla in a large bowl until tick, stiff peaks form, 3-5 minutes. Fold in half of the fruit until combined. Spoon remaining fruit over cream mixture and fold, leaving streaks to create swirls. Nothing wrong with adding a bit of chocolate here too. Transfer the mixture to a loaf pan or plastic container. Tap the pan to distribute the mixture and get rid of air bubbles. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 8 hours and up to 2 weeks.

Monday

China
is currently in the medal lead so feel free to do Chinese take-out if that sort
of thing is near you.

For
chicken that is glazed or topped with a sauce (like this one), rub with 2 tsp
oil before seasoning with salt and pepper.

Sticky Asian Chicken
(Woman’s
Day)

½ c ketchup

2T honey

2T soy sauce

1 T chili powder

1T grated fresh ginger

Boneless chicken pieces

Grill
chicken over medium-high heat. Top with
sauce in last few minutes of cooking.

Rice

Sliced bananas in orange
juice

I know it sounds a little strange, but
it is really good.

Tuesday

Russia
while not on the top five in medal counts certainly comes to mind when you
think of the Olympics. There were plenty
of things I didn’t want to eat, but was surprised to learn that mayonnaise
based potato salad is considered Russian, especially if you add green peas to
them. In far NW Russia they also serve
it on Thursdays.

--I
recommend using a cut up roast instead of ground beef. It just really makes this dish taste SO much
better. The beef gets nice and tender
after cooking all day.

--Plus
if you find a roast on sale, it is often less expensive than ground meat or
stew meat.

Rub
the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate
chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the chorizo until browned, remove and
reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs.
Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve. In the same pan, make a sofrito by sautéing
the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat.
Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors
meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry
to coat the grains. Pour in water and
simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly
and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into
the rice. The shrimp will take about 8
minutes to cook. Give the paella a good
shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente,
for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is
filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice
looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the
rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.

Cantaloupe and
blueberry salad

Thursday

A
tip of the hat to my maternal grandmother and her German roots.

Sausage

Home Fried Potatoes

Green Beans

Friday

Good
old USA, the great melting pot, and then I even work in the Brits a little
since they are the host of the games. It
likely would have made sense to suggest fondue or perhaps a good wholesome
casserole for a more American feel, but I don’t have a fondue pot. If you want to be like the French with your
fries (chips) you can dip them in mustard.